Collection: Blandford Fashion Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The Museum’s collections come from two sources. The first part of this consists of objects formerly belonging to Mrs Betty Penny MBE, and originally held in the care of the Costume Settlement Trust, of which Mrs Penny’s son Anthony was the principal Trustee.The Trust was dissolved in 2015, and the title of these items was transferred by Deed of Gift to Blandford Fashion Museum.

  Since it was established May 1996 the Museum has also been acquiring objects separate to those in the Trust, primarily by donation from the public, and in keeping with the Museum’s collecting remit, described below.

  In 2020, the museum was bequeathed a small number of textiles formerly belonging to the sculptor Elisabeth Frink, from the estate of RLB Jammett.These were accessioned and added into the primary collection.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2025

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The primary collection is the costume collection, which contains around 6000 items dating from the eighteenth century (1735) to the late twentieth (1989). It is primarily focussed on womenswear, the bulk of which is from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Much of the collection reflects fashions worn by the middle classes, with a significant collection of wedding dresses. The collection also contains a wide range of shoes, hate and sleepwear as well as childrenswear and a small selection of menswear.

  Around two hundred of the items in this collection were formerly owned by the Costume Settlement Trust, with an emphasis on ladies’ fashionable dress with a good mix of day and evening wear. The collection includes some items of fancy dress and some smocks.

  In addition to the primary collection, the Museum holds three further collections. These are:

  • Artefacts from Mrs Penny’s collection and further artifacts acquired since the Museum opened for the purposes of display and furnishing of interiors. Separate records are kept of these items.
  • Archival material relating to the Cavalcade of Costume, including film, photographic and paper, photographic and paper materials. Separate records are kept of these items, and many have been digitised. They are available for the public to view upon request.
  • Costume items in the handling and education collections, which are not fit for display and are therefore not accessioned to the primary collection, but which are used to further the Museum’s educational and outreach purposes. Separate records are kept of these items.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2025

  Licence: CC BY-NC